U.S. European Command State Partnership Program

U.S. European Command State Partnership Program
Origin1993
AuthoritiesTitle 10 (Armed Forces); Title 32 (National Guard); National Defense Auth. Act
Countries22 (2015)[1]
SPP Expenditures$4.57M (2015)[1]
SPP Events308 (2015)[1]
RSM Nations19 (2017)[2]
RSM Troops2669 (2017)[2]
A map of the 22 EUCOM State Partnerships
Indiana National Guard and Slovak troops train for medical evacuations in Slovakia
Soldiers from Slovenia and Colorado practice explosive breaching techniques during a three-week Joint Combined Exchange Training exercise in Slovenia
The Ohio TAG awards the Ohio Commendation Medal to Hungary soldiers
Soldiers from Kansas and Armenia train together on demining operations
Soldiers from Texas and Czech Republic conduct Blackhawk training exercises
Minnesotan and Croatian troops assist in Afghan election
Croatian and Minnesotan soldiers prepare to clear a room together at the JMRC
President Barack Obama reviews Polish soldiers alongside soldiers from Illinois
Soldiers from Kansas and Armenia practice a riot control exercise
Ohio National Guard's BAO in Hungary, talks with a Hungarian counterpart

The United States European Command State Partnership Program (EUCOM SPP), according to its own mission, is a National Guard program that "links U.S. states with designated partner countries to ... support the command’s security cooperation objectives."[3] Currently, 22 Partnerships exist "with former Soviet, Yugoslav and Warsaw Pact countries in the EUCOM Area of Responsibility." Becoming independent on the dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 26, 1991, these countries shortly requested the advice and assistance of the United States in creating new self-defense forces.

They had been acquired by the Soviet Union from the European Theatre of World War II. The requests began among the Baltic states, notably Latvia, which had approached NATO. It sent a delegation from five member countries, including the U.S., which chose the National Guard Bureau as most appropriate spokesman, considering that Latvia could not afford a standing army. EUCOM thus became the first of the six geographic Combatant Commands that make up the "global SPP," and the NG, which is divided into state-sized contingents, became the host of each state-sized new national force, typically, but not necessarily, one-to-one, totally voluntarily. A country member must begin by requesting membership. The very first Partnership Program was with Latvia.[4]

  1. ^ a b c "The State Partnership Program FY 2015 Annual Report to Congress" (PDF). Department of Defense United States of America. p. 5. Due to the release of the report at the end of the next FY, it may not be available to the public until the second year after the nominal year. Thus the 2017 report might not be available until 2019, although Congress has the data much earlier.
  2. ^ a b "Resolute Support Mission (RSM): Key Facts and Figures" (PDF). North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) / Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN). 1 May 2017.
  3. ^ "EUCOM State Partnership Program". Partnership Programs. EUCOM. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  4. ^ Ulrich 1999, pp. 60–62